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Marvel’s New Carnage Series: Why, God, Why?

When word came out yesterday that we would be seeing Iron Man and Spider-Man in a joint effort against returning super-villain Carnage, I could only think of one thing. It wasn’t about the potential of an awesome team-up, or how they would face a particularly deadly character; it wasn’t about how Peter and Tony would solve lingering tensions from Civil War, or who the new female host for the symbiote would be.

All that was on my mind was how horrible a character Carnage is, and how desperate Marvel comics must be in order to slap a new coat of paint on a horrible character.

I have never been a fan of the symbiote family of characters in Spider-Man titles. I have never found Venom entertaining, nor been interested in any aspect of his “evil Spider-Man persona”. Even after its separation from Eddie Brock, the symbiote has shifted from one echelon of boring to another, going from an evil doppelganger to instant shock value.

Carnage is no different. During the horrid time that was the 90s, I suspect that someone at Marvel Comics had a conversation similar to this one:

Editor 1: “We need someone to be a brutal Spider-Man villain. Let’s bring in Venom to eat some brains.”
Editor 2: “No go. We’ve started to write Venom as an edgy anti-hero.”
Editor 1:”Oh. Crap. How can we have a character that’s an evil mirror to Spider-Man, but still be 100% evil?”
Editor 2: “So what you’re saying is, we need someone who’s Venom, but… not.”

You get the gist of what I’m saying. It’s bad enough that we have one character that serves no purpose than to be an “evil twin” of a hero, but a second one with different coloring and a barely different power set just gives off the vibe that Marvel needed a quick idea that would make them money. And really, why mess with what works?

Carnage could have the potential to change my mind, but there will be one thing that will always be nagging at the back of my brain: why would you bring back a villain that had been doing nothing for years prior, and had been ripped in half (in glorious fashion, I might add) by the Sentry to illustrate how powerful he was?

I remember reading somewhere (I believe it was an old Wizard interview around the time of the “death”) that Carnage’s demise was supposed to be a farewell to the bad 90s villains that plagued the industry. However, it seems that through some loophole, the symbiote has survived re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere, and will be giving us utterly generic and incredibly predictable stories for years to come.

We all know what’s going to happen: either Cletus Kassidy will be the host, or it will find a new one. The Carnage entity will then kill a lot of people. Spider-Man or Iron Man will then use some sort of sonic device/weapon to bring her down. He will be placed in a poorly-guarded glass jar, and will break out again at a further date.

There. I just saved you a mini-series’ worth of cash. I hope the guy who’s been e-mailing Marvel about where his favorite crappy villain has been is happy.

I would not be surprised if the whole “Iron Spider” thing isn’t brought up at least once; I know that it’s been awhile, but besides the Invincible Iron Man issue (I think that was the title) where Spidey takes that “iconic” picture of Tony Stark, they haven’t had much interaction.

The last time they had any tension Kris was when Aunt May was shot and Pete went to Tony because Tony promised that if Pete revealed his identity he would protect the ones he loved. But the whole Brand New Day thing came out I’m not even sure if Tony knows that Peter is Spidey anymore. It would make sense for them to have some issues since Peter is now an Avenger and on the SAME team as Iron Man.

I always knew that Carnage would be back in some fashion so I’m not too pissed about the fact that the day is finally here. He was never a favorite of mine but I hope the stories are at least worth it to the people who really like the character and spend their money on this story arc.

BRAVO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!!!! I didn’t know CK died, but a woman? Come on!!! That’s as bad as a new Venom. BOO!!! Marvel you stink! Then again I say that all the time 🙂 My thing here was that the title is Carnage, not Spiron-Man. So why are either in it? Let the character develop with a hint of Spidey towards the end of #1, and then take it from there. SO BOO ON YOU AGAIN BIG M

lol ”horrid time that was the 90’s”? As I recall that was a big time in Marvel comics. Last time I checked the huge comic book boom was in the 90’s- especially for Spiderman.

After Harry Osborne’s overdose, Norman Osborne’s character returns after over 20 years and put an end to the Clone Saga, killing Ben Reilly (which lasted throughout much of the 90’s along with the symbiote saga).

The comics were still very genuine back then too, there weren’t a shit load of alternate universes then either ;\.

Carnage is still my favorite villain ever. Maximum Carnage was incredible and even better than Civil War IMO. To each their own I guess. I like Carnage because he causes what his name is…carnage. Not very predictable and very dangerous.